our trip to labor and delivery (again)

We had to make another trip to labor and delivery yesterday.  Not exactly what I had planned for the day.

The boys were super active all morning.  I especially noticed a lot movement from Baby B.  I was experiencing a normal amount of braxton hicks contractions.  That means I was getting the contractions every 5 or 10 minutes.  However, by the afternoon I was noticing some differences in the pain.  My back was getting tight each time I had a braxton hicks contraction.  And I was getting some cramping really low in my uterus.  I decided to go hide in the bathroom at work for a few minutes because I was mentally exhausted.  Of course when I went to the bathroom I noticed some bleeding.  I actually did a double-take because I really could not believe it.  I literally had every cuss word in the world come out of my mouth.  It was not a ton of bleeding and it was only noticeable when I actually wiped with toilet paper.  I kept checking because I seriously thought I was going crazy.  I immediately panicked.  I probably need to stop doing that!  I knew I had to actually leave the bathroom in order for anything to happen.  So I went out to the hallway and talked to Kara on the phone.  I knew that I had to call the OB.  I made a quick call to the OB and left a message on the nurse line.  I got a return call a few minutes later and was told to head to labor and delivery.  Didn't we just leave labor and delivery a few days ago??  So off we went ...

The funny part ... I actually felt really good in the car on the way over to labor and delivery.   I felt better than I had in several weeks.  I felt like I suddenly had more room in my stomach.  Weird?  I know.  I kept thinking, "Jeepers!  They are really going to start thinking that I am a crazy lady."  We got to the hospital and got all checked-in.  We did the usual checks.  The nurse was able to pick-up both heartbeats on the monitor (though briefly because both babies move like crazy) and then she put me on a contraction monitor.  The monitor picked-up some uterine irritability but nothing too extreme.  Like I said ... I was feeling good at the moment.  My BP was 116/82 and so it was fairly decent considering the amount of stress I was under at the moment.  The resident came in a few minutes later to check me out.  The not so fun part.

A funny story ...

The resident came in the room to do an exam.  Of course this requires me to assemble the position.  So there I was with my feet in the stirrups waiting for the doctor to come back with all the gear.  Let's be thankful at this moment I was behind a curtain.  The doctor was in front of the curtain at a cabinet getting everything she needed to do the exam.  And in busts the maintenance man.  There was no knock at the door.  The maintenance man just opened the door and entered the room.  This is the conversation I hear ...

Resident (now for all my lady readers you have to picture the resident having this conversation with a speculum in her hands):  "Can I help you?"
Maintenance Man: "They said there was a clogged toilet in the room." (I imagine the maintenance man holding a plunger.)
Resident: "There is no toilet in this room."
Maintenance Man: "Well they gave me this room number."
Resident: "There is no toilet in this room."
Maintenance Man: "Hmm?  Okay." (the maintenance man leaves the room)

The resident immediately peeks her head around the corner with the best face ever and says, "I swear that has never happened before. I don't think he had any idea this was an exam room"

Kara and I just busted out laughing.

Okay ... back to the important part ... the babies.

There was no sign of any bleeding and my cervix was firm and closed.  All good signs.  The resident also did a cervical u/s and an abdominal u/s at the request of my OB.  The cervical u/s indicated that my cervix was still measuring at 3cm.  The same as last week.  And the abdominal u/s indicated no problems with either placenta.  A problem with either placenta could cause some bleeding.  However ... the abdominal u/s showed that Baby B was now breech!  Huh?  That had to have just happened because this morning I felt kicks from Baby B up in my ribs.  So what caused the more intense contractions ... probably Baby B turning himself breech.  The babies already have zero room in the womb and it probably took every ounce of strength for Baby B to turn himself around.  And as a result my uterus went crazy.  Does it explain the bleeding?  No.  But it could explain the pain.  And like I said earlier in the blog I had been sitting in the hospital realizing that my uterus was the most relaxed it had been in days.  Perhaps by turning himself around Baby B suddenly had more room.  Who knows?

So I was discharged and sent home.  Again.  I now have new requirements for calling the OB ... I love how these keep changing as this pregnancy progresses.  A small amount of bleeding is okay.  A large amount of bleeding is not okay.  I need to call the OB if I have a significant amount of bleeding.  The braxton hicks contractions are normal.  I only need to call the OB if the pain intensifies over a period of time and eventually becomes unbearable.

I am beyond thankful that the boys are doing just fine.  They seem to be unaware of all the stress they are sending in my direction.  There is something else that has happened to over the last 24 hours ... It is time for me to say good-bye to all I imagined this pregnancy to be.  I thought the hard part would be getting pregnant.  I never imagined that there could be any greater stress than what Kara and I went through last year to get pregnant.  But then I got pregnant and the pregnancy has not exactly been the way I imagined it was going to be.  And because of this I have enjoyed very few moments of this pregnancy.  All I can think about is getting to June 2012 and hoping with every ounce of my being that I am holding two healthy baby boys in my arms.  I look at other pregnant ladies and I am envious.  But then I also think that perhaps their pregnancy is not how they imagined it to be too.  I need to get to my viability date.  I might be able to breath a bit more at that point.  But we are still two weeks away from the point when doctors would even try to medically intervene with the babies.  It seems like a very long two weeks.  I also need to get over this fear I have of the OB thinking I am a crazy lady.  I get nervous each time I call the OB because I feel as if I am "that patient" and I feel as if I am bothering the office for no reason.  These are my boys.  The most precious gift I have ever been given in my life and at the moment the only voice they have is my voice.  So I need to just suck it up and realize that I am not going to be that patient that just shows up for monthly OB appointments and then has a problem free delivery at the end.  Nope.  I have worries.  And my worries need to be addressed.  And I do feel as if they are addressed immediately each time I express a concern.  I just need to realize that I am probably going to have more worries.  And that there will probably be more phone calls to the OBs office.  And that's okay.  There is nothing I can do to change it.

Please keep growing big and strong little ones.

Mary